


intertwined.

by danganronpa_wereverse



Series: Danganronpa NEXT Wereverse [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Birth, Childbirth, F/M, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Mpreg, Trans Pregnancy, not erotic, not sexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 10:41:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19375060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danganronpa_wereverse/pseuds/danganronpa_wereverse
Summary: NOTE:this is rated explicit because there are upcoming childbirth scenes, not because there's anything sexual. This is not erotic. I just marked it so that it can be avoided if that bothers people. Please heed the warnings! Fuyuhiko and Peko are both trans here.Fuyuhiko and Peko's lives become intertwined through the birth of their cubs.Wereverse, AKA everyone's an immortal shapeshifter. Don't like? Don't read!





	1. and so it begins

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of notes:
> 
> \- Fuyuhiko is a cat shapeshifter, specifically a Singapura. Peko is a wolf.  
> \- Kids are generally referred to as "cubs" until their species becomes apparent.  
> \- I did my research + I'm trans myself, but if anything seems off let me know!  
> \- Shapeshifters are mostly immortal. They won't die of old age, but can die from extreme illness, being killed by another shifter, or specific rituals done by humans.

**and so it begins.** **\- chapter one.**

* * *

 

These days, there is peace in the Kuzuryuu household. Peko makes sure of that. Fuyuhiko does an amazing job at pissing himself off and stressing by himself, he doesn’t need anyone else to help him, or do it for him. That’s the reasoning she gives, anyway. In reality, Peko has her own fears about the upcoming birth of their cubs, and Fuyuhiko’s well aware of this. That’s partially why he lets it happen, going so far as to help her kick Natsumi out and make her go stay with her girlfriend, Sana Sato’s, family for a while.

Fuyuhiko’s… more than a little scared, too. The expectation has always been that, one day, he’ll deliver an heir. Preferably more than one, if it can be helped. The Clan doesn’t want to take chances, wants Fuyuhiko to have a healthy boy even if it takes decades, even if it takes too many litters. But Fuyuhiko has no intention of being a Togami. He says the firstborn of his first litter will be the heir no matter what, dammit. Even if they aren’t a boy.

It’s not like it should matter, Fuyuhiko and Peko both agree. After all, they assumed Fuyuhiko a girl when he was born, and Peko a boy, only for both assumptions to be switched when they got a little older. Foolish assumptions, really. Fuyuhiko has never been and will never be a woman. Peko has never been and will never be a man.

Even so, these are things Fuyuhiko has to remind himself as his belly grows with the lives he’s made with himself and Peko.

At first, the fear is simply for his safety. They’ve only just graduated from Hope’s Peak when they find out. Fuyuhiko very vividly remembers screaming and throwing the pregnancy test across the room when his suspicions were confirmed nearly nine months ago. His talent and occupation already puts him in enough danger, even with Peko’s constant supervision and the help of some of his other men (though he prefers Peko, especially when it gets to the point where the curve of his belly is too big to hide even with a jacket). Being the shapeshifter head of the largest criminal syndicate in Japan isn’t a safe life.

And then there’s the fact of his size. Fuyuhiko will still slaughter anyone who insists he’s small, or baby-faced, or child-like, but the possible strain of a litter on his body isn’t something that can be ignored or denied. Peko isn’t that big comparatively, and shifter babies tend to be smaller on average anyway, but the risk of damage from possibly carrying six cubs weighs heavy on everyone’s mind until the first ultrasound.

Fuyuhiko and Peko are both glad for Mikan. She’s never been one to judge, after all, and she does her duty without asking too many questions. She’s able to explain through her stuttering exactly what’s going to happen during the process, how Fuyuhiko’s body is likely to change, what might happen after nine months of going off testosterone and what the future might hold.

He scoffs when she talks about how he might get more emotional, but that doesn’t stop tears from welling in his eyes when he sees the ultrasound, hears his babies’ heartbeats for the first time.

There’s only two, thank all the gods, and both are healthy. There’s no complications through the whole pregnancy, but there is one issue, at least for other members of the Kuzuryuu family: Fuyuhiko doesn’t want to know the sexes of the cubs until they’re born, and this drives everyone (especially Natsumi) save for Peko quite crazy. The reasoning behind his decision is clear: should both of his cubs be girls, he doesn’t want to be pressured into planning for another litter right away. Normally, the endless lifespan of a shifter would mean he’d have plenty of time for future litters should he want them, but being yakuza means one never knows when their life will come to an unexpected end. Should he fail in producing a male heir, they’ll want him to keep trying.

But Fuyuhiko stands firm in his choice. He isn’t a tool, and neither is Peko. He makes sure to emphasize that emphatically and clearly.

Besides… pregnancy doesn’t treat Fuyuhiko well. Between the intense nausea and cravings, mood swings, weight gain and near-constant back pain, he’s not quite sure this is something he’d like to experience more than once. Having Peko there helps, yes, and he’d do just about anything for her, but she’s going to have to beg to get him to go through this again.

At least for now, he supposes, he can relax. Fuyuhiko rests on his side in the grand nest he’s built, head in Peko’s lap as she strokes his hair. He’s not as restless as many are before the births of their cubs; rather, he’s been quite relaxed the past few days, which surprises everyone. Up until then, he was stressing and worrying and snapping at almost anyone who got too close. But now, he looks very much like a tame beast while Peko pets him gently.

After a few moments, he twitches an ear and flicks the tip of his tail, half-opening one eye blearily. Peko notices, because of course she does, and she looks down at him with worry reflected in her ruby eyes.

“‘s okay,” Fuyuhiko says before she can worry herself anymore than she already has. “They’re moving, that’s all.” He shifts a little to rest more comfortably in Peko’s lap, to get some of the pressure off his back from where the cubs are sitting. At least one of them is moving, though they aren’t as rowdy as usual. Possibly just a reaction from being woken from their nap.

Tenderly, Peko rests a hand on his side, runs her thumb along the curve of his belly, and he lets her. He purrs softly, a rumbling sound from deep within his chest as she does. He’s completely content right now, could probably stay there for hours until he goes back to sleep.

That is, until he gives a soft grunt and sucks a breath in sharply through his teeth. He stiffens only a little, but it’s enough for Peko to notice. “Contraction?” She asks softly.

“Yeah. A little stronger.” Fuyuhiko nods and shifts to push himself up, bracing his weight on his arms as he pushes himself up into a sitting position. “Came just a little faster, too.”

“Do we need to call Mikan?” Peko’s voice is still soft, but her growing anxiety is noticeable.

Fuyuhiko shakes his head. “Well -- let her know, but she doesn’t need to be here yet.”  _ I don’t want anyone to see me vulnerable for longer than they need to  _ goes completely unsaid, but not unheard. It’s not like he’s in active labor just yet. He’s been having small contractions for days, and it’s likely that he has at least a few more hours before things start to get serious.

When Peko leaves the room for just a moment to call Mikan, Fuyuhiko looks down at his stomach and gives a heavy sigh. “Don’t be in a rush to come out now, okay? I need another nap.” His tone is mostly joking, but he does get a few kicks in “response” to his words. “Yeah, yeah. I hear you.”

He leans back, rests his head against one of the many pillows in the nest and sighs. He’s definitely ready to meet his children, ready for them to come out of him. He’s just not entirely sure he’s ready for everything that comes after that.


	2. and so it continues. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an intentionally short chapter, the rest will likely be longer.

A few hours later, the pacing starts. Fuyuhiko’s showing the characteristic restlessness that tells Peko, from all the reading she’s been doing, that active labor is probably close to starting. Mainly, he’s going about the nest, pacing the perimeter and re-arranging some of the blankets and pillows to fit his tastes.

“I just want it even,” he explains. “I don’t like it when I lay down and it’s all… lumpy. Hurts my back.”

As nervous as she is, Peko doesn’t stop him, because this is natural. They’ve both known this day would come, but now that it’s upon them, now that their cubs are so close to coming into the world, they’re both having doubts. Even so, Fuyuhiko’s handling the early labor well so far, doing his best to stay calm and save energy.

He lays down after doing a few more rounds around the nest, leaning his back against the soft pillows to ease the ache. Apparently, he’s finally satisfied, at least for the moment. Fuyuhiko stays that way for a little while longer, with Peko watching as his breathing gets a little faster and more shallow. At one point, she helps him with taking off his sweatpants, as they’ve gotten uncomfortable for him.

They’re getting closer.

It’s not much longer after that when Fuyuhiko calls Peko to his side, and of course she’s there in an instant. He looks up at her, urgency written on his face and in his eyes as he takes both of her hands.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, instinctually, worry in her voice.

“I -- I gotta stand up,” Fuyuhiko says. “Help me up.”

She doesn’t argue. Instead, she carefully helps him stand up, lets him lean against her as he takes shallow breaths. Then, suddenly, all at once in the same moment, Fuyuhiko gives a soft yelp as the pressure increases for just a second, and his waters break, fluid leaving him in a rush.

He breathes shakily, looks at Peko with fear and apology in his eyes. “Sorry, Peko,” he says, voice low. “That was --”

“Not your fault,” Peko finishes for him. “You just reacted to what your body was telling you. It’s fine.” She leans down a bit to kiss his cheek. “Does Mikan need to be here?”

“Yes,” Fuyuhiko whispers. “Yeah. It’s time.”

Those words are the ones they’ve been dreading and waiting for.


	3. almost ready. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> baby time approaches! two more chapters left.

Peko has never believed the vast majority of the resources she’s read that say labor tends to intensify and move quickly after the waters break until right now. Holding Fuyuhiko in her arms in the nest while he labors and breathes through his contractions makes her wonder why she didn’t believe it before. She supposes she just assumed that they were written from an outsider’s point of view, and that when one was in the middle of it, things would be different. It would feel slower, more like the hours it actually takes rather than the minutes the books say it feels like.

She was wrong. So very, very wrong.

After his waters break and Peko calls for Mikan, everything seems to happen so fast. At first, Fuyuhiko’s just in some general discomfort, needing his hand held and back rubbed as the contractions get closer and stronger. But as things start to pick up, Peko feels like they barely have time to prepare. Mikan arrives at six thirty P.M that night, and then it feels as though there’s only thirty minutes that pass before Fuyuhiko’s occasional groans grow into soft moans, and then louder cries, and then heart-wrenching wails. But when Peko turns her head to check the time, it’s been nearly five hours.

Fuyuhiko’s been in active labor for five hours. He was only three centimeters dilated when Mikan arrived, and now he’s nearing eight.

“You’re eight centimeters,” Mikan tells Fuyuhiko after checking him once more. “The last two centimeters will dilate quite rapidly, okay? Thirty minutes is the norm. Just keep focusing on breathing, and listen to what your body tells you. You’ll be able to push soon, and then you’ll meet your cubs.”

He’s shaking in Peko’s arms even as he nods, sitting on his knees in the nest with his head on Peko’s chest. Fuyuhiko turns his chin up to look at Peko, and there’s tears in his golden eyes. Peko can feel her heart break, but she brushes her thumb across his cheek without showing it, staying strong for him now when he’s been strong for her so many times before. This is the man she loves, the man she married only a few short months before, the evidence of their union in two golden rings on their fingers and in the cubs he’s about to have.

“Peko,” Fuyuhiko forces out between the contractions. They’re only going to get worse when he has to start pushing, and the unspoken fear of _what if it’s too much_ echoes through both of their minds. “I gotta -- gotta stand up. I want -- wanna walk, move around.”

“Okay.” Peko obeys him unflinchingly, listening to every word from his mouth and every cue from his body. Carefully, she wraps her arm around his side, and suddenly he seems so small as she helps him to his feet. She looks at Mikan, who nods her approval and stays close, but not too close that she invades their privacy. This is one of the last moments Fuyuhiko and Peko will spend alone, after all. Fuyuhiko uses his tail and his wife to balance, his ears pressed flat against his head as he squeezes his eyes shut when another contraction pulses through him.

Resisting the urge to fall back to his knees, Fuyuhiko instead puts his hand that isn’t holding Peko on his thigh, nails digging into his skin as he holds back a cry. Peko gently rubs his knuckles with her thumb and looks at him with a gentle, loving expression. There’s no pity, because Fuyuhiko doesn’t want pity and frankly doesn’t need it. She knows that. Instead, she speaks from a place of love rather than pity or sorrow.

“It’s okay,” she starts to say. “If you need to make noise, do it. It’s just us. You can be as loud as you want.”

Fuyuhiko gives an affirmative grunt and a nod, then his grip tightens on Peko as he cries through another contraction. This one peaks twice -- Peko can tell because his voice breaks twice as well -- and when it’s over, he tries to breathe deeply and struggles.

“I can’t,” Fuyuhiko says, sweat dripping from his face. His hair clings to his forehead and neck, longer now since he hasn’t cut it in a few months, and Peko gently wipes his bangs from his forehead to kiss him. “Can’t keep this up, Peko.”

“Yes you can,” Peko says strongly, squeezing his hand to reassure him. “You’re yakuza. The Ultimate Yakuza. You can do this, you can do anything. If I can believe that, so can you.”

Fuyuhiko pauses for a moment, blowing air in and out through his lips before he nods. “You’re right. ‘m not a fucking pussy.”

Peko snorts at that. “Of course not. You’re very strong just for doing this.”

He lets out a breathy laugh. “Really? I don’t -- don’t feel too strong right now.”

“Take it from me, then. You’re doing amazing.” Peko kisses the top of his head once more, and he purrs a little, leaning into her grip a bit more. “Do you still want to move?”

“Yeah.” Fuyuhiko straightens a little, still leaning on Peko as they move. It’s slow, but the walking seems to help just a bit, some of the pressure on his back easing up but increasing on his pelvis nonetheless. At one point, he stops, leaning against Peko on one side and the wall on the other at the edge of the nest. The energy in the room changes suddenly -- at least, Peko feels like it does -- as Fuyuhiko gives a soft, low groan from deep within his chest.

“Is something wrong?” Peko asks, looking from Fuyuhiko to Mikan. Mikan doesn’t look worried, so Peko forces herself to not look worried as well.

Fuyuhiko shakes his head. “Pressure,” he says, taking deep breaths in-between. “Lots of pressure. Feels like -- like I gotta push.”

At his words, Peko looks over at Mikan again, and she’s there faster than Peko thought she would be, gently checking his progress once more while Peko holds him.

Just a few seconds later come the words they’ve been waiting hours to hear.

“You’re ready,” Mikan says. “The first one’s head is right there. A couple pushes and you’ll be crowning.”

For just a second, there’s a jolt of panic through Fuyuhiko’s body, but that’s quickly replaced by the overwhelming urge to get his cubs safely out of him. He manages to ask Peko to move so she’s in front of him, holding him with one hand under his arm and the other on his hip to keep him up and steady while he puts his own arms around her, rests his head on her shoulder.

“Ready, Papa Fuyu?” Peko asks him, softly, playfully. Fuyuhiko manages a soft laugh and nods against her neck.

“Yeah. Are _you_ ready, Mama Peko?” He asks in return. She gives her answer without hesitating.

“Absolutely. Let’s do it.”


	4. the first. chapter four.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first fuyupeko baby is here! i've decided to do six chapters so there's two more to come since this chapter ended up uh. way longer than i expected. tw for birth! but you should be expecting that by now.

Whoever made up the lie that pushing was the best part of the birth should be shot, Fuyuhiko thinks shortly after he starts pushing. He’s never been in more pain in his life. Between the pain of the contractions and the pressure building up from the baby’s head pressing on his pelvis, he’s pretty sure he’s going to die.

“I’m dying,” he cries to Peko after the first one. “I have to be. This -- this is what death feels like.”

Peko, gods bless her, just shakes her head and strokes his cheek. “No you’re not,” she says softly. “I can’t imagine the pain you’re in, but you’re not dying. You’re going to be fine.”

Fuyuhiko groans, rests his head on her shoulder once more as he sways a little, hoping to ease the pressure a bit between contractions. It’s starting to feel like they’re right on top of each other, coming fast and hard with little reprieve in-between. He’s glad now that he managed to get a few naps in before all this started.

“That was a very good push,” Mikan tells him. “A few more like that and you’ll be crowning.”

Fuyuhiko nods in acknowledgement, then moves his head to look at Peko again. “I -- need to be lower,” he grunts lowly. “Just a little bit.”

“Do you want to be on your knees?” She asks, to which he shakes his head no. “In a squat?” He nods yes. “Okay, we can do that.” Carefully, she maneuvers into the position he wants. She’s on her knees anyway, in the end, but Fuyuhiko puts his hands on her shoulders and keeps himself up, legs trembling, but staying upright all the same. Peko ignores the ache in her shoulders, because this is so much more important right now.

“Feels better this way,” Fuyuhiko sighs after a few moments. “Easier.”

“Good,” Peko says. “Do whatever you need to do.”

Fuyuhiko bites his lip, nods, and then gives another cry as the next contraction comes, bringing with it the urge to push. He follows the urge, listening as Mikan counts to ten and then instructs him to let up so he can breathe.

“Okay, Fuyuhiko,” she says after a few moments. “You’re about to crown. You need to breathe, and push slowly if you push at all, okay?”

“I -- fuck -- want them out,” Fuyuhiko growls. “I want them out _now_.”

“I know, but you don’t want to hurt yourself,” Mikan continues. “They’ll come, there’s nothing to worry about.”

He wants to argue, but when it comes down to it, Fuyuhiko trusts her and his body, and right now they’re both telling him to slow down. So, instead, he just nods, takes a few deep breaths and lets instinct take over for a bit. He’s still holding onto Peko, but his grip relaxes for a bit as he lets his body do what it needs to.

It doesn’t take long before an entirely new pain starts.

“Fuck -- fuck, holy _shit_ Peko,” Fuyuhiko hisses after a few seconds of pain finally registers. “It burns, _fuck_ that hurts --”

“They’re starting to crown, it’s okay,” Peko murmurs to him softly. “It’s okay. You’re almost there.”

“I -- holy fuck,” Fuyuhiko says once more, his fingers digging into Peko’s back. “ _Please_ tell me this isn’t how it is the rest of the time.”

“It’s just until the head’s out,” Peko says after a few moments of silence. Only afterwards does Fuyuhiko realize she’s only relaying what Mikan’s saying, because he doesn’t hear a word of what the nurse is saying. He can only hear Peko’s voice, Peko’s words, and it feels like Peko’s presence is all around him, holding all of him at once, and he feels more relaxed now than before despite the pain.

“Then this kid better get their head out _fast_ ,” Fuyuhiko growls low again. Even so, he doesn’t go against what Mikan and his body have told him, keeps breathing the best he can while the burning pain intensifies. He gives a sharp cry, and there’s some movement registered in his peripheral vision from Mikan shifting position, then Peko leans in closer to talk to him again.

“She’s crowning, Fuyu,” Peko murmurs, a tone of wonder in her voice, barely there but there nonetheless. They’d made the prediction a few hours before that their cubs were girls -- perhaps part of it was to spite all the rumors of boys, and perhaps part of it was Fuyuhiko’s instinct -- but this is the first time she’s voiced the idea that their cubs might truly be girls. “She’s crowning. I’m starting to see her head.”

At first, her words don’t really register, but when they do, Fuyuhiko looks at her with disbelief in his wide golden eyes. “I -- _what_?” He finally asks. “She -- really?” His thoughts are scrambled, and so are his words, but the meaning behind them is clear. “Can I -- can I see her?”

Peko looks over his shoulder at Mikan, who says a few things that Fuyuhiko can’t hear. She gets a mirror, though, and positions it before giving Peko the go ahead to tell Fuyuhiko. Gently, she tells him “go ahead and look” and he looks down, tilting his head at a comfortable angle.

There’s… not really anything that matches up to the moment a parent catches that first glimpse of their child. Fuyuhiko used to scoff and roll his eyes at the birth stories he read online when parents try to describe that moment and talk about how emotional it is, because he’s never been an emotional person. He can’t afford to be. He’s Yakuza. He’s a _man_. Yakuza men aren’t like that.

But right now, in this moment, he’s not just a Yakuza man. He’s a first-time father, and he can see his child, and there’s a rush of emotion so strong he doesn’t know what to say for a moment. Because he can see her, the very top of her head is there, and there’s so many things he wants to say but he can only manage one:

“She’s gonna have your hair.”

Peko laughs at that, a beautiful sound like the church bells at their wedding. “It looks that way, doesn’t it?” She agrees, her voice just as soft as his. She kisses him once on his cheek. “But she’ll have your eyes.”

Fuyuhiko sniffs, nods along with her words, letting the moment sink in before Mikan says (and Peko relays) to him that the cub’s at a full crown now. He looks back down at the mirror for just a second, imagines a beautiful little girl with Peko’s hair and big golden eyes and a dusting of freckles on her nose. A wave of determination passes through him, and he says “I’m doing this,” to Peko before following through on his body’s urge to push.

It doesn’t feel as fast as he’s told it is. Yes, it hurts, but it’s not the pain that lingers in his mind. He pushes again, and hears Peko give a little gasp.

“Her head is out,” Peko says to him, pressing her lips against his scalp for a moment. “She’s almost here. One more time, Fuyu.”

He resolves that one more time it certainly will be, and focuses all of his energy on the next push, a high cry leaving his lips as the pressure increases before his daughter’s body leaves his and all of a sudden he’s just had a baby. He knows as soon as she’s out that she’s out, even before Peko tells him, before he feels the hot tears rolling down his cheeks. Peko helps him pull his shirt off, and then there’s a tiny, wet, crying newborn on his chest.

Both she and Mikan help him lean back against the side of the nest closest to the wall, so that he can hold her easily. “It’s a girl,” he remembers someone telling him, he can’t remember if it’s Peko or Mikan, but after that it’s like the dam breaks and he’s openly sobbing, holding her to his chest.

Their heir is a girl. A baby girl, and she’s alive and healthy and _loud_. It’s not over yet, as there’s still the second cub to worry about, but for the moment, his full and complete focus is on the baby. His baby. His and Peko’s baby.

Peko curls around him and their firstborn protectively after the first few moments, and after making sure the baby is fine, Mikan gives them both the space they need for a few moments, taking the time to write down the necessary details about the birth.

They both know how important the moments after birth are for all of them, but it’s even more apparent now that they’re in the moment. This is what they’ve been waiting for.

“She’s -- she’s fucking _perfect_ ,” Fuyuhiko finally says after a few seconds of silence. “Is -- is she mine?” His voice cracks a little, and Peko smiles.

“Of course she is. Look at her, she has your nose,” Peko says, pointing out the cub’s features. It can be hard to tell with newborn shifters, but from her general appearance, they both figure she’s likely taken after her father’s species. Peko won’t say it, but she’s relieved. Wolf pups are notoriously difficult to deal with growing up, and she was no exception as a child.

Fuyuhiko, on the other hand, smiles weakly. “Yeah? She does.” He tilts his head to look up at Peko. “Is she supposed to nurse?”

“It helps,” Peko murmurs. She’s stroking Fuyuhiko’s hair again absentmindedly, but he doesn’t stop her. Instead, he focuses on the baby, instinct helping both of them while Mikan watches to make sure everything is going well. She latches on fairly easily, which is a blessing, and Fuyuhiko starts to purr without realizing it while she nurses and kneads -- yet another thing he’s read about online and never expected to experience. It takes him a little while afterwards to realize that she’s purring, too, a tiny squeaky sound compared to Fuyuhiko’s own deep rumble. It’s certainly not uncommon for this to happen, but it triggers another wave of emotion, tears dripping down his face.

“What’s her name?” Peko asks him after she finishes nursing and falls asleep. Fuyuhiko holds her close, but not tight, knowing that he’ll have to let go eventually when his labor starts again but certainly not wanting to. He thinks about Peko’s question, going through the list of names he’d made in his head just before his labor started.

“Yaeko,” he finally says. “Yaeko Kuzuryuu.”

Peko smiles again, leans over a little and strokes the newborn’s cheek with her thumb. “Welcome to the family, Yaeko,” she says, her voice soft and warm.


	5. and so it ends. chapter five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what a wild ride.

Fuyuhiko doesn’t let Mikan anywhere near Yaeko until he starts feeling restless again, like the second one is coming soon, and only then does he allow her to take the tiny kitten and place her in the bassinet they’ve prepared. He misses her as soon as she’s gone, even though she’s just across the room, but Peko manages to reassure him that she’ll be fine in the time it takes for her sibling to arrive.

According to almost everything he’s read, the births of subsequent cubs after the first one is _supposed_ to be easier, considering the body has already done this once before. And while his body certainly feels ready, none of those accounts ever seem to take into account what the cub being born has in mind.

“This one,” Fuyuhiko pants out to Peko as she holds him steady with her arms, “this one’s a boy. I can feel it.”

Peko raises an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

“He’s stubborn as hell,” Fuyuhiko finishes. “Probably thinks he’s happy in there right now.”

Peko smiles a little and presses a kiss to Fuyuhiko’s forehead. “He won’t be for much longer. You’ll get him out.”

Normally, it takes between thirty minutes to an hour between the birth of each cub, but it’s an hour and a half before the contractions get into a pattern Fuyuhiko’s familiar with. They’re a little stronger right at the start this time around, and he leans heavy against Peko, bracing himself by putting his hands on her outstretched arms.

One of the contractions is so strong it takes his breath away, and that’s the cue he’s been waiting for, it seems. Fuyuhiko barely has time to growl out “Gotta push” before he bears down hard on the next contraction, intent on getting this kid out of him whether he wants to come out or not. Again, it feels like he can only hear Peko, her calming force wrapping around him and holding him just as she already is.

Thankfully, it’s not long before he feels the pressure of the baby’s head once more, though with a slight difference.

“This one’s bigger,” he says, just a hint of fear in his voice. “His -- his head is, at least. _Fuck._ ” Fuyuhiko pauses to swear through another contraction, knowing what’s coming next and dreading the possibility of the crowning lasting longer this time.

“Just don’t panic,” Peko reminds him, stroking his side. “This happens. You can do it. Just breathe.” The calmness of Peko’s voice calms him in turn, and Fuyuhiko nods, keeping his breathing even while the next few contractions push the cub down further.

This time, the burning pain of the crown doesn’t scare Fuyuhiko as much as the first time, and this time his cry is more of a high whine at the top of his throat, long and unbroken. It feels so much longer than the first, though, but he breathes through it all the same, only following his body’s instructions and giving a light push to get it to a full crown. By now, he’s exhausted -- not so tired that he can’t push, though, but still tired -- and ready for this to be over.

“Peko,” he warns. “Peko, I’m -- I’m gonna push, and he’s gonna come and I’m _not_ stopping him, okay?” His tone is serious, and Peko nods. “But -- I want you to catch him. Alright?”

For the first time during all of this, Peko actually looks shocked and surprised. “Really?” She asks after a few moments of silence. Fuyuhiko nods in response, and she looks helplessly at Mikan, who says she’ll guide her through if that’s what Fuyuhiko wants.

It is, indeed, what he wants, and Fuyuhiko releases his grip on Peko’s forearms in favor of putting his arms around her shoulders so that she can move to support the baby’s head with her palms. She seems more afraid than Fuyuhiko at this point, her hands shaking a little as she looks down, then back up at her husband.

“Don’t _you_ freak out on me,” Fuyuhiko almost laughs. “Shoulda’ done it earlier, before it was almost over.”

Peko gives a shaky smile in response, and then all of her attention is on the emerging cub and Fuyuhiko as he pushes once more. This time, the actual birth really _is_ a lot slower than the first, mainly because of Mikan’s instruction to Fuyuhiko to push slowly and carefully thanks to the size of the baby’s head. It’s a slow cycle of pushing, then pausing to breathe the head out a little more, then pushing again until the head is out, and Peko is almost holding her second child.

A shudder passes through Fuyuhiko’s body, and he swallows heavily before saying “Peko, he’s coming,” and giving a final strong push that sees his son delivered into his mother’s hands. For a moment, they’re both shocked, until Mikan cleans the baby’s face and he gives a loud cry.

When he settles back down, Fuyuhiko can’t help but smile at the newborn, running a hand over his head of soft blonde hair. “Hey, kid. You’re the troublemaker, aren’t you? Just like your aunt.” He laughs a little. “You’ll fit right in.”

Shigeaki Kuzuryuu is born at 2:34 AM, two hours after his older sister, and finally, the Kuzuryuu family is complete.


End file.
